Trump’s TikTok stance differs from some Republicans ahead of sell-or-ban deadline

US House Republicans are standing firm against any TikTok divestiture deal that would leave Chinese owner ByteDance with a stake in the popular app, as US President Donald Trump appears to be leaving the door open for such an arrangement.

Short of a stand-off, the latest comments on the issue show a continued rift in Republican messaging over how to handle the Chinese-owned short video app just days before TikTok must be sold or face a nationwide ban, and comes as congressional Republicans have been reluctant to publicly break with Trump.

“Any deal that allows ByteDance to maintain control of TikTok is a grave threat to our security and a violation of US law,” John Moolenaar, Michigan Republican and chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said at an event hosted by a loose coalition of divestment proponents known as the “TikTok Coalition” on Thursday.

“If ByteDance stays involved in any way, the deal is illegal – plain and simple,” Moolenaar said, echoing an opinion piece that he published last week in National Review.

According to several US media reports, a prospective deal would see ByteDance retain a stake in the company. Data collection and software updates would be overseen by US tech firm Oracle, which already provides the foundation of TikTok’s infrastructure under an arrangement brokered during Trump’s first term.

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which sets the legal basis for a forced sale of TikTok, calls for a “qualified divestiture” without requiring a complete separation from ByteDance. Rather, it requires the “foreign adversary” to no longer “control” the app, defined as a 20 per cent stake, and gives the US president some discretion to define what relinquishing control would entail.